


still a chance (i would take those odds)

by thisissirius



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Buried Alive, M/M, Season 4 Spoilers, Sort Of, mud slide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: It’s not like the same thing can happen twice.(spoilers for season 4)
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 131





	still a chance (i would take those odds)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm writing 911 fic again. 
> 
> wow.
> 
> cannot stress enough this is SPOILERY for the trailer.

“Stay alive,” Buck says. “ _Please.”_

Buck wakes first, light spilling across the bed and he shifts until he’s out of its glare. Eddie huffs beside him, fingers twitching on the pillow next to his head. For once, they’re both up before the alarm, and Buck indulges in watching. Eddie in the mornings is always a delight; when he can be, he’s slow, pressing closer to Buck, face turning into Buck’s neck. 

“Morning,” he says, words muffled by Eddie’s forehead. 

“Nope,” Eddie rumbles. His hand curling into Buck’s. “Not until Chris.”

Laughing gently, Buck ghosts a kiss over Eddie’s temple. “Whatever you say, Diaz.”

Cracking open an eye, Eddie’s glare is ruined by the smile curving his lips. “What happened to Eddie?”

“Not awake until Chris is,” Buck says, laughing when Eddie digs a thumb into his side. “Stop.”

Eddie’s soft laughter soothes the burst of pain left in the wake of his thumb. 

“I love you,” Buck whispers. 

A softening of Eddie’s face as he closes his eyes; he can never say it with them open, as if he’s afraid of the words. Of what they mean. Buck doesn’t take it personally, knows they’re true, even as he buries the ache of it beneath a smile. “I love you, too.”

“Eddie? Fuck, please, _answer me!”_

_They’re worried about a landslide._

_There’s the sign._

_Is it moving?_

“So,” Hen says, sitting next to Buck on the bench.

Buck raises his eyebrows. “So?”

“Have you asked him yet?”

Eddie’s washing the truck with Chim, both of them fucking around with the water. Buck snorts as Chim slips on a puddle, Bobby’s voice ringing clear across the station for them to get their shit together and _work_. 

“No,” Buck admits. He avoids Hen’s knowing gaze. “Chris thinks it’s a great idea.”

“Of course he does.” Hen nudges him gently. “He knows you love Eddie.”

Buck opens his mouth, wants to say _but does Eddie love me_ , except they get stuck somewhere in his throat. He knows Eddie does. They’re not words Eddie can ever take lightly when Chris is involved, but knowing and believing are two very different things. 

Eddie looks up then, grins and tosses them both a wink. Hen snorts, mutters _idiot_ under her breath. Buck’s fingers twitch to reach for Eddie, to press a kiss to that ridiculous mouth and ask Eddie right then, in the middle of the station. 

Later, Buck wonders why he didn’t. 

_Buried alive_. 

The words ring in Buck’s head and he swallows past the sudden lump in his throat. He thinks of Hayden, the pipe, losing Eddie. Mud sliding beneath his knees, his hands, the thought of Eddie being lost forever. 

It’s not like the same thing can happen twice. 

What are the goddamned odds. 

“I’ll take the helicopter with Eddie and Chim,” Cap says, breaking through the awe of the moment. “We need to find those missing hikers.”

Buck hears it, but doesn’t listen. 

He’s elbow deep in wreckage, Hen’s voice murmuring soothing words to the couple trapped in the car. 

Athena’s voice rings out over the crowd and Buck sinks into the motions of a rescue; this is what he’s made for. 

“Good work,” Athena says. 

Buck nods, eyes tracking the helictopter that thuds across the sky. The light is fading; rescue’s only gonna get harder from here. “What are they facing up there?”

“Buried houses, cars, people,” Athena says with a wince. “They’re gonna be fine—”

“We need to get up there,” Hen says. 

Buck agrees, tearing his gaze away from the helictoper. Cap and Chim are fine. Eddie’s fine. Other people, not so much.

The Hollywood sign is gone. 

Houses, people, cars are stuck fast in mud. 

Somewhere on Mount Lee, an over-saturation of water triggers a secondary landslide. 

It’s—Buck doesn’t know how to begin explaining it. 

The air is thick with the cloying smell of earth. Yells and screams ring out over the noise of Buck’s own breathing. Mud everywhere, houses slick to the second floor. 

“Fuck,” he mutters.

“We should co-ordinate with Cap,” Hen starts, and then stumbles. 

Buck frowns, follows her gaze and feels his stomach swoop dangerously. 

A helicopter blade jammed straight up into the air. 

Someone clambering over the side of the helicopter half stuck in mud. 

Yells for help rolling over Buck and he can’t hear anything but the roaring in his ears. 

“Buck,” Bobby says, arm around Buck. 

Buck’s heart is hammering in his chest and he thinks _not again_. 

There’s mud caked through the inside of the chopper. Chim’s lying half in, half out and talking to someone in low tones. 

“Is he—”

“Stuck,” Bobby says. Quick, like ripping off a Band Aid. 

“I have to,” Buck starts, shoving away from Bobby. 

“You need to stay here,” Bobby says, as gently as he’s able.

Buck doesn’t want gentle. “No,” he snaps, because this is somewhere he’s been before and he’s not living this again, he’s _not_. Scrambling up the side of the helicopter, Buck’s hands are shaking but he ignores it, takes in the scene before him. 

“Buck, you need—”

“Eddie?”

There’s blood on Eddie’s forehead. 

The same forehead Buck kissed that morning. 

The cowlick is still there, too. Slick with mud and blood and water. 

Eyes half-lidded and hazy. 

“Eddie,” Buck says gently, wanting to reach for Eddie and tug, but—

Stuck fast in mud, one arm, barely half of his left shoulder, and his head free. 

“What did I say,” Bobby yells, grabbing a hold of Buck’s leg and pulling. Buck falls more than he slides down the side of the ‘copter, and he stumbles against Bobby as his feet hit the ground. “Extra weight is only gonna send that thing down faster and Eddie will— ”

Buck wrenches himself out of Bobby’s grip. “Fuck you,” he snarls, watches the surprise and anger ripple across Bobby’s face in quick succession. “We can’t just _leave_ him in there!”

"We’re not going to—”

Then, from Chim, “Cap, Eddie wants to speak to Buck.” 

Chim’s feet touch the ground. 

Buck’s clambering back up the helicopter, trying to keep his movements careful, because it won’t take much, just a tip the wrong side. 

Fuck. Fuck, what about _Chris_?

“I need,” Eddie says, breaking off. 

“Hard to breathe,” Chim says, when he passes Buck on the way down. “His chest is rattling, face pinched. I’ve done what i can.”

Buck doesn’t doubt it, but he can see Eddie struggle with talking, moving, _breathing_. 

“You have to do something for me.”

“Eddie, I can’t—”

“Chris needs you.”

“Fuck you.” Buck tries to find purchase on the side of the ‘copter, tugs off a glove because if this is gonna be—if Eddie—he wants to touch. “He needs you.”

“Yeah,” Eddie breathes. “And yet.” 

“The mud—we can’t set up a winch,” Buck says because he can’t think of anything else. His fingers brush through Eddie’s hair, and he doesn’t even care what they’re gonna be covered in. Eddie’s smile flickers and Buck feels despair claw at his chest, throat. “I’m sorry.”

Eddie swallows, winces as he shifts in the mud and Buck wants to tell him to stop, but he can’t make himself talk. “Chris—”

Buck tightens his grip a fraction, then relaxes. “Don’t, Eddie.”

“Should have asked you to marry me,” Eddie says, almost to himself. 

Something in Buck shatters and he doesn’t think it’ll ever come together the right away. 

“I love you,” Eddie says. 

It’s not until Buck’s back on solid ground that he realizes Eddie’s eyes were open. 

“Bobby, please.”

“Kid,” Bobby says, and his voice cracks on the word. 

_Buried alive_.

Mud sliding beneath his knees, his hands, the thought of Eddie being lost forever.

What are the goddamned odds.

**Author's Note:**

> :)))))))))))))))


End file.
